Jesus Christ Superstar Arena Tour

You people have no idea. This has been an incredibly successful production touring in the UK twice, and selling to full arenas all across Australia. It's already a success, so it doesn't need the USA to decide if it is or not. Just because it's 'full of Brits', why does that make it less likely to appeal to American audiences anyway? Oh, and Ben Forster as Jesus? Absolutely mind-blowing. His vocals and his acting are flawless; passionate and utterly believable. Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice can't praise him highly enough and ALW says his "Gethsemane" is the best ever. EVER. I have seen this show in Sydney,at the O2 in London and had bought tickets to see it at Madison Square Garden in August. You do not know what you have missed out on. I do and I'm gutted. Your loss America.

I'm no tech head but there are heaps of shots on Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr and youtube.All the material has been taken down from the US Arena website but there is still plenty available out there. Try and see if you can get the DVD. It's fantastic!

"Just because it's 'full of Brits', why does that make it less likely to appeal to American audiences anyway?" Obviously because American ticket buyers will go "who the hell is that" and not have a interest in seeing it. if a show has people in it that a person knows or likes, then they are more likely to buy a ticket. It's not that hard to figure out.

If it was so darn successful, then why isn't there the money to do this? Makes the problem seem even worse.

If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it?
These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.

1. The "AD Anniversary Tour" in 1992 at the Theatre at Madison Square Garden. 2. The Broadway revival in 2000 with the "new" interpretation of the show at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts. 3. The 2012 Broadway Revival at the Neil Simon Theatre that was short lived.

I attended all three productions and simply don't have the interest in seeing the show again. It has nothing to do with it being an Arena Tour. I enjoy the music but have had enough for now. People just aren't interested at the moment.

Up next:
Dec 18: Side Show
June 19: Lady Gaga/Tony Bennett
June 25: Bette Midler

Never mind just the NY area. In America in general, there's been a massive over-saturation of major productions of JCS in a short span of time in the past few decades. The 1990s were dominated by the A.D. Tour, which featured Ted Neeley and Carl Anderson from the film, in addition to a revolving door of celebrities (Dennis DeYoung, Irene Cara, Syreeta Wright, et al). The 2000s were marked by ALW's attempt to stamp his typical "replicate-your-spectacle" approach all over the map, with the 2000 video, Broadway revival, and tour based on both. Then, from 2006 through 2010, we were inundated with Neeley's last hurrah (on these shores anyway; Italy is loving him right now), in America and Canada.

At that point, the lemon was already squeezed bone dry. Even though this is a show that has a massive fan-base in the States, their appetite has been well-met for some time. A new production needs to be (or needs to be perceived as) special. The talent needs to be (or needs to be perceived as) special. Something really has to compel an audience to see this at Broadway or arena prices, and has to compel a producer to be interested in the commercial value.

The Broadway revival in 2012 which stemmed from the Stratford production in 2010 ultimately failed because it wasn't special. By and large, people were saying it was an explosive production in the context of a repertory festival, but on Broadway, it was just a pebble in the ocean. And the critical reception, which a lot of people who were sitting on the fence about the show were waiting for in order to make their purchasing decision, was not what that production could have hoped for: in the eyes of many critics, it was just another ancient/modern mix, a stock JCS.

I'm sure the arena tour was somewhat innovative and relevant when Occupy was fresh in the memory of its audience, and constantly in the headlines. But three years later, no one in the U.S. gives a crap about Occupy. And they certainly don't give a crap about the "celebrities" ALW dredged up from the depths for the cast. (Fran's love of Ben Forster aside, he is not the draw that he was in the UK, where he at least had the reality show win to pull them in.) Lackluster cast, dated production, and very few tickets outside the $100-$250 range. It's not hard to see why sales were poor and why Michael Cohl pulled out (he's got a spotty enough track record as a theatrical producer as it is without this arena tour being one more albatross around his neck).

That doesn't mean, however, that I don't sympathize with the cast; as a fan of the show, and as someone who wishes others to succeed, I hope they do get Glastonbury, that's the only place where it might do them any good. Here in America, the brand is dead, at least for a while.

I do think America still cares about the Occupy movement. I don't think anyone who cares about the occupy movement relates to Kelly Rowland, JC Chasez, etc. These "celebs" are rather poor performers at this point in their career. I also have a hard time wrapping my mind around the idea shelling out $175 for an arena "spectacle" with celebrities that is supposed to emulate the occupy movement. JCS is about the celebration of an individual when occupy was a celebration of the people. This very ridiculous capitalist tour is insulting to a socialist movement.

You certainly seem to, and I find some of the Occupy movement's aims commendable myself, but the point I was making was that most people would not draw the analogy because Occupy is not a thing one hears about on a daily basis anymore.

I also have a hard time wrapping my mind around the idea shelling out $175 for an arena "spectacle" with celebrities

As someone who does not really give a crap about the difference between capitalist and socialist, I will say $175 for celebrities is insulting if these are the celebrities on offer.

I recently bought it on DVD and have yet to make it through it. I can't decide if the production is a mess or if it was sloppily filmed. I will say that the auto-tuning used is pretty horrendous on the DVD. I can understand why Tim Minchin was so upset by it. Of the five professionally filmed versions I have on DVD, I have to say this is one of my two least favorites

I have to agree that the reason this failed isn't because of the Brits being in it. It failed because of the recent over saturation of JCS in the market. It is simply done too often here. I too am a fan of the show, but was not interested enough to fork out the big bucks to see it in an arena setting. I also doubted the stars acting ability, and in order for JCS to work for me, I need people who can definitely act.

Appears that the consensus is that JCS is saturated. If WE (the musical lovers) are tired of it then it is obvious why the general public isn't buying tickets! I do not even want to see the DVD right now.

Up next:
Dec 18: Side Show
June 19: Lady Gaga/Tony Bennett
June 25: Bette Midler

You will never shake my passion for this production of JCS but thank you for your reasoned and balanced comments on why it may not have succeeded in the US. Better than some who don't know it, haven't seen it and still want to criticise it. I think it's worth noting though that right up until the day it was pulled ticket sales were considered by the distibutors to be decent, so think there is more to it re Michael Cohl than we may ever know. Still sorry America will miss this. My favourite production ever. Fingers crossed for this fine cast & crew to get to Glastonbury. :)

Well I'm American and am a HUGE fan of Superstar and when me and my friends heard about it touring America we were so excited we went to purchase tickets asap but they were not available. So we decided to go on youtube and check out the singers and we were so disappointed are group of 20 decided we were not gonna go. Michelle Williams was awful singing her role and her post comments she made prove that she was the wrong choice. Also Ben Forster playing Jesus was terrible we all watched the final of ITV Superstar and were shocked Rory did not win. If the show was done in America Rory would've won hands down every person I've shown it to says he was the best singer. Ben overacts way to much and the UK seems to like that sort of thing which is why he won but it would not work here at all, and his accent was way to strong for an American audience. I can't speak for everyone else but this is why we decided not to buy tickets.